On 2011-11-27, Krypsis > wrote:
> For the past few days I haven't had usenet access. Didn't think much of
> it at first as there are occasional outages but after 2 or 3 days I
> called the helpdesk at my ISP. The helpdesk lady had no idea what I was
> talking about when I mentioned usenet news.

Support ppl have NEVER known about newsgrous and usenet, even when the
big ISPs had their own groups. Hell, 1st tier support ppl don't know
anything about anything, so no surprise, there.

Not only is usenet and irc still alive and well, new websites --think
foodbanter-- pirating usenet content are popping up all over. I can
find what I posted in rfc in a common google search the same day I
posted it. I don't think usenet is going anywhere, soon. Plus, quit
being such a cheap ass and PAY for a GOOD acct. News.Idividual.Net
only costs a measley $1 per month, ferchrysakes!

http://www.individual.net/

BTW, desktop computers aren't going anywhere, also.

nb











She also wasn't a lot of
> help. A couple of days later I thought I might just check the support
> page and, sure enough, there was a statement there referring to the
> shutdown of usenet at Optus due to declining interest and links to paid
> usenet services from other ISPs. Well, that explained the outage, pity
> the helpdesk weren't told!
>
> So I have had to move myself to eternal-september.org. At least we
> usenet people still have a few options but I suspect those options will
> be getting thinner on the ground as time rolls on. Web forums seem to be
> all the rage these days but I simply don't like the needless overheads.
> I much prefer the ease of use and simplicity of a local client like
> Thunderbird or Agent. I can only hope that eternal-september will
> survive for a few more years.
>


--
vi ....the heart of evil!